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American Reunion

American Reunion is the fourth movie in the franchise, not counting the various spin-offs that have popped up over the years. The third movie, American Wedding, was released in 2003, so there has been quite a few years between that installment and this current one. Although they can be quite raunchy, I found the last three movies in the series hilarious and really enjoyed them. Unfortunately, American Reunion is the weakest movie of the bunch, even though there were definitely some hilarious moments throughout.

The first scene in the movie is straight out of the trailer: we see discarded clothes next to a bed that's bouncing up and down, hinting that something raunchy going on. Instead, however, Jim (Jason Biggs, My Best Friend's Girl) is trying to read while his wife Michelle (Alyson Hannigan, TV's How I Met Your Mother) is trying to rock their 2 year-old son to sleep - quite a change from the couple's usual activities in the previous Pie movies. Jim and Michelle haven't had a lot of "sexy time" together lately, as she puts it, and they decide to attend their 13th high school reunion together back in East Great Falls. Jim, especially, is looking forward to spending some time with the guys, including his old pals Oz (Chris Klein, Caught in the Crossfire), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas, Please Give), and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas, TV's American Dad!). The guys unanimously decide not to invite Stifler (Seann William Scott, Goon) because he still hasn't really "grown up." Unfortunately, they run into Stiffler at a local bar, but pretend that his email invite got lost.

It was nice to see the American Pie group back together on-screen, but Reunion isn't really up to par with the other movies in the series. What's interesting is that there were some truly hilarious scenes mixed in with the rest of the film, which was a little slow, and it is for this reason that the film gets bumped up to a Maybe rating. Jim's dad (Eugene Levy, Taking Woodstock) has been a little lonely since Jim's mom has died, and Jim and Stifler try to get him to go out and meet some women; these scenes and also a scene where he meets Stifler's mom (Jennifer Coolidge, TV's 2 Broke Girls) comprised some of the funnier ones in the film. American Reunion trots out almost every character from the first movie, too, so that we get to see what has become of them, and former relationships (ie, Oz and Heather, played by Mena Suvari, and Kevin and Vicky, played by Tara Reid) are possibly rekindled.

Fans of the film likely won't be discouraged from seeing it based on this review, but I would recommend going back and re-watching the other three movies, which are much funnier, rather than seeing American Reunion. I hope this is the last film in the series, since I'm not sure what more they could do with it. I like the Pie core group a lot, but I think now that we are assured that they have, in fact, grown up, the series should come to an end.

American Reunion is in theaters today, April 6th, and is rated R with a runtime of 113 minutes. 2.5 stars out of 5.

So we've all been there ... that time when you're on an important phone call, and then the call drops. Or even when you need to use the internet on your smartphone, only to realize that you're at your data limit for the month.

I drive all over the metro Detroit area for movie screenings; because of this, most of the time I know where I'm going, but sometimes, I'm in an unfamiliar area or at an unfamiliar theater and I need GPS to know how to get there and back.

A few months ago, I was headed to the AMC Forum (Sterling Heights area) and I wanted to know the best way to get home from there. My phone kept stalling ... and stalling ... and then the Maps app crashed! Gah! I was extremely frustrated. I was finally able to re-start the phone and get safely home, but it TOOK. SO. LONG. Had the Maps app worked the fir…

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. Valentine's Day is coming up this week, and Dunkin' has released some seasonal doughnuts to celebrate!

About the doughnuts:
Valentine’s Day is all about love, but why stay trapped in the clichés of the holiday to express it? To help guests say it with donuts, and ease some of the holiday’s stress and high expectations, this year Dunkin’ is offering new choices as rich, diverse and dynamic as love itself. Dunkin’ today unveiled its Valentine’s Day lineup, including new Bling Sprinkles Donuts, the return of heart-shaped donuts and its first ever donut that features a perfect pairing of two delicious fillings.

A beloved symbol of the season, heart-shaped donuts are back in several varieties, including Boston Kreme and Jelly, for a limited time at participating Dunkin’ locations nationwide. Additionally, this year classic frosted donut varieties are getting dressed up for the season of love wit…